Town money for striking bus drivers off the table

"All-Star Transportation is not interested, so that request will not be made at tonight's Town Council meeting," Murphy said in a news release faxed this morning.

At a press conference Friday, Murphy announced that she would ask the council for $12,000. That amount would cover -- for the remaining days of school -- the additional per-hour wages the 80 drivers' union is asking for in a contract from All-Star Transportation.

Come summer break, Murphy said, the company and union can resume negotiations.

But with that now off the table, Maureen Welch, owner of Northeast Carpet Flooring on Danbury Road, said she would be willing to give the bus drivers $12,000.

Welch, whose children went through the New Milford School District, said the town has always supported her and now is the time to help the town.

The striking bus drivers argue their pay and other incentives are inadequate and far below what is offered to drivers in nearby towns.

In response to the mayor's Friday news conference, Wendy Faulenbach, education board chairman, called a special meeting for Saturday to discuss the strike.

In Murphy's press release today, she said "it is not important at this time to argue about or counter what was said at the meeting.

Murphy also reiterated the town's priority to get the buses back on the roads.

"I repeat my plea to the drivers that they voluntarily return to work immediately for the sake of the town and its hard-working parents. And I urge that Board of Education and the administration to keep the public informed with progress reports about their efforts," she said.

Read letter sent to the Board of Education from All-Star Transportation.